Outbreak of Covid delays port hearing
The Port of Tauranga’s application to extend its wharves and shipping channel by dredging 1.8 million cubic metres of seabed has been put off again.
A panel of four judges was due to begin hearing the case yesterday, but a Covid-19 outbreak has delayed the hearing until 2023.
It is yet another blow to the port’s extension plans, given it had already been declined by the Government’s shovel-ready and Covid-19 fast track infrastructure schemes.
The company, which is 54% owned by the Bay of Plenty Regional Council but publicly listed, has said it would run out of capacity within three years if the extension to its operations did not go ahead.
It had successfully argued to skip the usual process of regional council hearings, saying the proposed extension was an urgent national priority.
The Ministry of Environment declined the previous Covid-19 fast-track application, saying it was more appropriate for the project to go through a standard consenting process, because there was a fair expectation submitters should be involved.
The port’s application to the Environment Court showed the port applied for a resource consent for a 385 metre wharf extension and 1.8h reclamation at Sulphur Point, as well as wharf extensions of 530m north, and 388m south, of the tanker berth and a 2.9ha reclamation on its Mt Maunganui wharves. It said the associated extension to the shipping channel covers 14.4ha and involves dredging up to 1.8 million cubic metres.
The new development will allow the port to host several large ships at once, it said.
The Port of Tauranga handles 42% of New Zealand’s container traffic.